Birth story - Aasi and baby girl

*Trigger warning* - GD, mention of induction, use of the word contractions, PPH and second degree tear.

Pregnancy:

After 7 years of wanting a sibling for my daughter it finally happened! My first pregnancy was fairly normal but my labour not so much! I had a very traumatic experience my tear was so bad it then involved another op 8 months after having her and I have not been the same since. So this time round I was very anxious of what was to come.

I had a fairly good pregnancy up until I got GD AT 35 weeks! I was under a consultant due to my previous history and premature labour and small baby and this was the best thing that could have happened to me. Kate was a blessing!

I had more scans then normal due to growth concerns as my first was only 4lb!

Labour:

As I was under a consultant I was being closely monitored due to the size of the baby and then the diabetes!

My consultant went through all the options with me as they did not want to cause further damage to the previous scaring so I needed to ensure I had a controlled delivery! She gave me the option of vaginal delivery or c section! In my head I wanted the c section because I was so anxious but Kate kept me so positive and reassured me and made sure the plan we had was exactly what would happen.

Fast forward 36 week check up she checked my cervix and saw that I was already dilated and gave me the option of breaking my waters then or letting me carry on! I chose to carry on due to have a previous early baby!

We made it to 37 weeks and she booked me in for an induction. As soon as I got to hospital we had to wait for a delivery room but Kate came to see me checked my cervix and went through our plan just to make sure I was happy with it!

The plan was to break my waters then give me an epidural and take it from there. Due to having no beds by the time we got in delivery it was 8pm but before she left she spoke to the dr and midwife on shift and explained everything and what needed to happen!!!

Our lovely midwife made the room all nice and calm and then of course it was time for a shift change but I was blessed to have the most amazing midwife overnight to! I was then greeted by the anaesthetist and I was so anxious about the epidural as I am no good with injections but my midwife kept me sooo calm and kept reassuring me and I remembered to do my up breathing through it all! By the time I had the epidural it was midnight and she broke my waters to start thing’s going! By the time her shift had finish I was still only 2cm and they had given me syntocin to help speed things up!

Of course nothing happened and it was time to meet our midwife that came for the morning! Again we were very lucky to have her! It got to 12ish in the afternoon and they were struggling to get baby’s heartbeat with the standard monitor they use so they then explained that they would need to clip it to baby’s head to keep her safe. At this point I burst in to tears from the exhaustion, the worry of something being wrong and the feeling of wanting to give up! I of course agreed and when she did this she gave me the best news to say that I was finally fully dilated and I should get ready to push soon!

I double checked with her and reminded her that Kate had left everything on what needs to happen but also if I did need stiches this needed to be done by a dr not a midwife and she already knew this was the case!

1pm came and it was time to push, the dr and registrar on shift said they would be there and they didn’t lie. They said they would give me an hour and then intervene and I was fully determined that I did not want an instrumental delivery so I knew I had to push with whatever ounce of energy I had left! While I was doing this my midwife told me the dr would be coming in as she could see I was already bleeding. At this point I was totally panicked but I just carried on pushing, while using my down breathing, and she came just before 2:30pm!

… And out came the placenta without the need for an injection!

They put her on me and it was a feeling of relief but the dr and registrar were rushing to stop this bleed and I was so scared and emotional I was shaking. They kept reassuring me, saying, ‘don’t worry, its ok, we will stop it,’ and honestly because of the previous time they really did!!! They took their time stitching me up and along the way told me they were taking their time because of the previous scarring and this also made it a little more difficult!

They managed to stich me up and stop the bleed! And everything went perfectly! I was very badly swollen there too so they gave me an ice pack to put under to help!

I just want to say for any mamas who maybe anxious or worried like me after my first experience I never thought I would be able to talk about my second with such positive words!! I didn’t realise how much hypnobirthing and, the blessing that is, Kate and the midwifes and drs at Homerton helped me turn this in to such a positive birth! I am beyond grateful to all of them and to this course.

If even one person reads this and it helps them in some form of way I know it would make me so happy!!!

Good luck mamas and I promise you have defo got this!!!!